Rotary snap-switch.



G. A. CLARK.

ROTARY SNAP SWITCH. APPLmATIm FILED 00124, 1907.

Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

A TTORNE) 0. A. CLARK.

ROTARY SNAP SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED 00124, 1907.

906,386. Patented Dec.8;1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES INVENTOH Charles A. Clark.

- ATTORNEY v UNITED STATES. PATENT orri on.

onAR'LEs A. CLARK, or HARTFORD, EJONNEGTIGUT, ASSIGNOR TO TRUMBULL ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY, or PLAINVILLEY, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION orv CON NEOTICUT.

ROTARY sN'Ar-swrrcn.

-' Specification of Letters Patent.

I Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

Application filed October 24, 1907. 1 Serial No. 898,888.

To alr'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES A; CLAnm-af citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, (whose pOst-ofiice address is .62 Mapleavenue, Hartford, Connecticut,) have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Snap-Switches, of which the. following is a full, clear,-and exact description, whereby any one skilled in-the art may make and use the same.

The invention relates to switches for controlling circuits of electricity, and'more par- .ticularly to .the type of switches now well known in the art as a rotary snap switch. That is, a switch inwhich the stationary contacts are engaged by a contact bar which has a rotary quick release and engaging action.

The objects of the invention are to provide a simple, inexpensive device, having comparatively few parts, and with said parts arranged to give positive predetermined action with reference to the engagement and disengagement of the relatively stationary and movable contact members.

' A further object is to provide a locking and releasing mechanism for the parts during rotation.

A still further object is to provide a switch actuating mechanism without the usual spring detents or pawls commonly employed.

Referring to the drawings: F lgure 1 is a sectional view through a switch illustrating the improved mechanism. Fig. 2 is a detail plan view showing at 2 the under side of the contact plate with the lock actuator at 2 the locking plate and at 2 the. stop plate employed in the mechanism. Fig. 3 illustrates a bottom view of the parts shown in F i 2, the switch blade being broken away an a portion of the stop plate being broken away to show construction, the parts being in normal position. Fig. 4 is a view similar. to Fig. 3 with the spindle and appurtenant parts turned through a portion of its movement. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 with the spindle turned still further. Fig. 6 illustrates the same parts after the contact plate 'and bar have moved ninety degrees.- Fig. 7 is a detail bottom perspective view of the various parts of the mechanism showing at 7 the stop plate, at 7' the'locking plate with interlock,'at 7- the contact actuating plate, at 7 thespindle with the lock actumeral 1 denotes a suitable base 0 ator, at 7 a the spring clip of the spindle, at 7 f the spring, and at 7 the contact bar. Fig. 8 is a sectional view showing a modified form of the device. Fi 9 is a detail view in bottom perspective ot the parts shown in modification and illustrates at ,9 the "locking'plate with the interlock, at 9' the contact actuating plate, and at 9 the spring, the remaining parts are substantially the same as illustrated in the preferred form of the device.

-. In devices of this type it has been com 'mon to employ a ratchet and pawl with-a pawl actuator suitably actuated from the spindle and-arranged to release the pawl from the ratchet after the contact bar or its plate have been placed under predetermined tension of a spring. In such'dev'ices, so far as known, it has been necessary to employ a pawl controlled by a spring or some intermediate member and such devices have had the objection of uncertainty in their action.

It is one of the intentions of the present invention to do away with laterally moving ,pawls and provide for pure rotary movements between the various switch parts, at thevsaine time providing an interlock which will permit the tensioning of the contact bar and its plate to efiect a quick make and break action of said bar with reference to the stationary contacts of the circuit to be controlled.

To provide against the objectionable features heretofore named and secure a mech anism in which the various operating parts will be positively. locked in predetermined positions, there is employed a stop plate for determining the movement of said parts, a

locking plate for interlocking the contact bar. until it has been placed under a predetermined tension, a contact plate coopcrating with the locking plate and a lock actuatorfor actuating the locking plate. All/of these parts are illustrated in bottom plan view in Fig. 2 at 2, 2 and 2, respectively, and are further illustrated through a full cycle of their movements in Figs. 3

to 6 inclusive of the drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, the nu-' insulating material having asuitably formed recess 2, within which the angularly formed base 4 of a stop plate 5 is mounted and held a ainst rotation. The step plate 5 has 'at'its ower end a tubular projection 6 suitably engaged by a locking nut 7 to hold the plate in the recess 2. This tubular projection and stop locking the switch blade, as hereinafter describe Loosely mounted upon a spindle 8 is a contact actuating late 10 provided with downwardly exten ing lugsll and 12- arranged in the path of the circle, the center of which circle is without the center of the spindle 8.- It will thus be seen that the circle including said lugs is eccentric to the spindle 8 which passes through the contact actuating plate 10 and forms the center of rotation for said plate. The plate'lO is preferably formed of sheet metal with the lugs 11 and 12 stamped up thereon.

Below the contact actuating plate 10 is arranged a locking plate 13 having a peripheral curvature-l4 conforming to the circle defined by the lugs 11 and 12 of the contact actuating plate. This lockingplate has a central opening 15 within which is mounted a lock actuator 16, the loci; actuator being secured to the spindle 8. The lock actuator 16 has a lug 17 which extends within an opening 18 formed on the inner wall of the locking plate in the openin 15.

Below the locking plate 13 is arranged the stop plate 5 which, of course, is fixed against rotation with reference to the spindle and is engaged by an interlocking cam 19 extending below the surface of the locking plate 13 and engaging the peripheral surface of the stop plate and its lobes 9.

To better understand the operation of the device illustrated in Figs. 3 to 6inclusive', it must be first understood that the center of rotation of the contact plate 10 is coincident with the center of the spindle. It must be further noted that the peripheral surface of the locking plate 13 which presses against the lugs 11 and 12 of the contact plate has its center of eneration at the point X, as indicated on t e contact actuating plate 10, which center is exterior to the center of the spindle and consequently the center of rotation of the contact actuating plate. It must also be understood that the locking plate receives its movementfrom the turning of the switch spindle through the inter enga eme'nt of the lug 17 with the recess 18.

With the above understanding, reference is made to Figs. 3 to 6 of the drawings. In

Fig. 3 the parts are shown in normal position, it of course being understood that a sprin 21 is arranged intermediate the spin e 8 and the contact actuating plate 10,

so that the rotation of the spindle when said contact plate is held from rotation will place the spring under considerable tension and will be efiective for quickly moving the contact plate and its contact bar as soon as said plate is released, as hereinafter defined.

The interlocking lug 19 of the locking plate 13 is of considerable length and has an. outer curved surface. conforming to the lugs of said locking plate, while its inner curved surface is such as to ride along the periphery of the lobes of the stop plate 5. This interlocking lug 19 lies between the periphery of the stop plate 5 and the lug 12 of the contact plate. Obviously, as the spindle 8 is rotated the locking plate 13 will be moved within the path defined by the lugs 11 and 12 through the medium of the lock actuator 17 and the cotiperating recess 18. As the 30 center of the contact plate is coincident with the center of the spindle, said contact actuating plate 10 cannot rotate during a partial movement of the locking plate and its interlocking lug 19. The parts during said movement are represented in Fig. 4: of the drawings.

The interlocking action of the lug 19 is maintained until said lug reaches a point at the outer end of one of the lobes of the stop plate 5, whereupon the contact actuating plate being under tension and the interlocking lug 19 having passed to a point to clear the outer end of the lobe 9 of the stop plate, both the locking plate and the contact plate will be moved forwafd together, the latter moving about the locking plate until said locking plate and contact actuating plate assume the position indicated in Fig. 6 of the drawings. This latter figure with reference 0 to Fig. 3, shows the arts moved through one complete cycle of operations with the contact bar turned through ninety degrees. The parts are now ready for a further movement of ninety degrees, thus a step by step 5 movement causes engagement and disengagement of the contact bar with the stationary, contacts 23-2L As shown in Fig. 1 the contact bar 22 is preferably formed of two parallel members 110 which are'completely insulated from the contact actuating plate 10 and spindle 8 and form open jaws 2526 for engaging knife edges 27-28 of the stationary contacts. Ob viously, these contact bars and stationary 11:, contacts may be arranged in any suitable number and juxtaposition to provide for the exigencies of any particular case. and may be arranged for single pole, double pole, or in fact, any desired form of switch mech- 12o anism;

It will be seen from the above description that there are no transversely movable pa wls or spring detents and no ratchet mechanism of more or less'delicate construction. The ma entire movements of the parts are purely rotary, one with reference to the other, and the lockingof the contact plate is pOSlflVL and is maintained until the interlocking plate has been moved to a position with ref- 1;

erence to the contact plate and stop plate -whichpermits both the'lock'ing plate and contact actuating .plate to move together.

All of the various parts may be stamped orpressed up and thus the parts of-tlie device may be made with great accuracy and most economically, and may be assembled with the greatest facility. Attention is also called to the very compact nature of the entire mechanism.

The feature of compactness is'further ex- I emplified in Figs. 8 and 9 which show a slightly modified form of the device. In

these figures the numeral denotes the base of insulating material, having secured thereto the stationary contacts 51-52, which are engaged and disengaged by the relatively rotary contact 53. This contact 53 is, se-- cured to and moves with a contact actuating plate 54 which has struck up from it, or'

stop plate 61 to prevent the movement of said contact plate until a spring 62 having one end secured'to the contact actuating plate and the opposite end secured to the spindle is properly tensioned. The stop plate 65 is'identical in form with the simiar part hertofore described in connection with Figs. 1 to 7, inclusive. The spindle and actuator are also identical in form.

It will be noted that the cup-like locking plate 59 and the down-turned lugs of the switch actuating plate form a receptacle,

' within which thespring 62 may be located.

Thus all of the working parts including the lock actuator 66 are thoroughly inclosed, and all of the parts may be seated within a recess 67 formed in the block of insulating material. It will also appear that there are no springs or other working parts extending above the contact actiiating plate, and special advantages may be gained in having all of the various parts inclosed by the insulating material.

Obviously, the various details of the mechanism might be varied to a considerable extent without departingirom the spirit or in tent otthe invention.

WVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters'Paten't is:

1. In a rotary snap switch, a rotary spindle, a stationary stop plate, a contact actuating plate rotarily mounted on the spindle and beating an eccentric seat, an eccentric pl ate mounted to rotate in said seat and provided with a locking. member intermediate the seat and the stop plate, means for rotating said eccentric plate and locking. member with reference to the stop plate and eccentric seat and resilient means intermediate the spindle and contact actuating plate for rotating the latter and causing movement of the eccentric plate. 1

2. In a rotary snap switch, a spindle, a stop plate having lobes, a contact actuating plate rotarily mounted upon the spindle and provided with an eccentric seat, said eccentric seat and lobes of the stop plate provid ing a path for the movement'of aninterlocking member, said interlocking member arranged upon and movingwith an eccentric plate mounted to rotate in the eccentric seat, means intermediate said plate and spin- .dle for moving the former a predetermined distance and resilient means intermediate the spindle and contact actuating plate .for moving the latter and the eccentric plate aftera predetermined movementof' the interlock. I

3. Ina rotary snap switch, a fixed stop plate having lobes, a rotary spindle, a plu-, rality of rotary plates operatively mounted with reference to said spindle, one of said plates bein eccentric relative to the spindle,

and the ot er hearing an eccentric seat for the said eccentric-plate, means intermediate the spindle and eccentric plate for rotating the latter in its seat, means borne on and moving with. said eccentric plate for 'releasing the plate bearing the eccentric seat upon a predetermined degreeof rotation of the eccentric plate with reference to the lobes of the stop plate and resilient conmeetions intermediate' the spindle and said Iseat'bearing plate.

4. In combination ,in a switch mechanism a stop plate, a spindle rotarily mounted with reference thereto, a contact actuating plate rotarily mounted with reference to the spindle and bearing an eccentric seat, an eccentric locking plate mounted in said eccentric seat, an interlockin lug appurtenant thereto, means intermediate the spindle and eccentric locking plate for rotating the latter in its eccentric seat and resilient means connecting the spindle and contact actuating plate.

5. Ina rotary snap switch, a fixed stop plate havin lobes, a spindle rotarily mounted with re erence thereto, a contact actuat- 11 ing plate provided with a seat eccentric to the spindle and so associated with the lobes of'the stop plate as to form a path for the movement of the interlocking member, an eccentric plate rotarily mounted in the ec- 120 centric seat and provided with an interlocking member arranged tomove between said seat and lobes of the step plate and con.- nections intermediate the s mdle and eccentric plate for moving the litter.

6. In a switch mechanism a stop plate, a spindle rotarily mounted with reference thereto, a contact actuating plate mounted to rotate about the spindle and provided mounted to be rotated in said seat by the spindle and bearing an interlockin member having interlocking and releasing actions with reference to-saidcontact actuating plate upon a predetermined rotary movement with reference thereto, and means for simultaneously rotating. the contact actuating plate and the-eccentric plate upon a predetermined movement ofthe interlocking member.

7 .111 combination in a switch mechanism tric sent. an eccentric plate mounted to rotate therein, a spindle having a resilient connection with the contact actuating plate and having means for. rotating the eccentric plate, an interlocking member borne upon the eccontricplate and preventing movement of the contact actuating plate during a predetermined movement of the spindle and means for moving the contact actuating" plate on its axis of rotation about the eccentric plate after predetermined movement of the interl cking member.

8. In a rotary snap switch, a fixed stop plate, a spindle rotarily mounted with reference thereto, a contact actuating plate provided with an eccentric seat, an eccentric mounted therein and surrounding the spmdie, and an interlocking member borne upon mounted therein and surrounding the spindle, and aloose connection intermediate the spindle and eccentric for moving the latter,

a contact actuating plate bearing an eccenism, a stop plate, a spindle rotarily mounted with reference thereto. and bearing a projec- 10. In combination in a switch mechantion, a contact actuating plate rotarily mounted with reference to the spindle and bearing an eccentric seat, an eccentric locking plate mounted in said eccentric seat bearing an interlocking lug and adapted to be rotated by the projection of the spine dle and resilient means connecting said spindle and contact plate.

CHARLES A. CLARK. 

